GOD'S IMAGE AND EGALITARIAN POLITICS

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 310-321
Author(s):  
George P. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Abraham Lincoln ◽  
The Past ◽  
National Leaders ◽  
God's Image ◽  
American Society ◽  
Political Oratory ◽  
Biblical Sources ◽  
Martin Luther King

These days, American politicians are loath to cite biblical passages for fear of being charged with breaching the wall between church and state. There was a time when a presidential candidate could claim that a certain monetary policy would “crucify us on a cross of gold.” This kind of rhetoric is now taboo. America's national leaders even avoid quoting the religious phrases from the Declaration of Independence, particularly its references to the “Creator” or “Nature's God.” Although in the past some of the greatest American political oratory—Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg (1863) or Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Lincoln Memorial (1963)—relied unashamedly on biblical sources and imagery, it is no longer considered acceptable to argue publicly in the language of either the Hebrew or Christian Bibles. However religious American society might still be today, political rhetoric is noticeably nonreligious.

Longing, Nostalgia, and Golden Age Politics: The American Jeremiad and the Power of the Past

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Golden Age ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
The United States ◽  
Abraham Lincoln ◽  
Frederick Douglass ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Past ◽  
American Tradition ◽  
Political Ideal ◽  
American Society

I assess several politically powerful ways of drawing on the past in the search for solutions to problems in the present. To probe these dynamics, I turn to the American jeremiad, a longstanding form of political rhetoric that explicitly invokes the past and laments the nation's falling-away from its virtuous foundations. I begin by focusing on the Christian Right's traditionalist jeremiad, which offers both nostalgic and Golden Age rhetoric in its assessment of the United States' imperiled national promise. I argue that, despite differences in the historical location of their ideals and the significant rhetorical power that they bring to political life, such nostalgic and Golden Age narratives represent a constraining political ideal, one ultimately incapable of doing justice to an increasingly diverse American society. I argue furthermore that there is another strand of the American jeremiad and conclude by sketching a different way of drawing on the past, a progressive jeremiad epitomized by the thought of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Such a jeremiad is also deeply rooted in the American tradition and offers a far more promising contribution to a diverse and pluralistic American future.

American Religion, American Politics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Butler
Keyword(s):  
American Politics ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Abraham Lincoln ◽  
American Government ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Primary Documents ◽  
History Of ◽  
Frances Willard ◽  
Martin Luther King

Despite the centrality of separation of church and state in American government, religion has played an important role in the nation's politics from colonial times through the present day. This essential anthology provides a fascinating history of religion in American politics and public life through a wide range of primary documents. It explores contentious debates over freedom, tolerance, and justice, in matters ranging from slavery to the nineteenth-century controversy over Mormon polygamy to the recent discussions concerning same-sex marriage and terrorism. Bringing together a diverse range of voices from Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and secular traditions and the words of historic personages, from Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Frances Willard to John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., this collection is an invaluable introduction to one of the most important conversations in America's history.

The Contested Past: The Boxers as History and Myth

1992 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
American History ◽  
Abraham Lincoln ◽  
Complex Case ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Pattern ◽  
High Degree ◽  
History And Myth ◽  
Martin Luther King

The mythologized past is the past that predominates in the minds of most people. Therefore, even as historians strive to counter it, it behooves us to study it with care. Although any aspect of the past has the potential to live on as myth in the present, certain events and persons, because they resonate with themes of broader historical scope and importance, have this potential to an especially high degree. Thus, in American history, where racism has been such a pervasive historical pattern, figures like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King who helped to ameliorate the condition of blacks are often treated in larger-than-life terms. To take a more complex case, in China in the twentieth century, where the West has been by turns hated as an imperialist aggressor and admired for its mastery of the secrets of wealth and power, the Boxers, because they attacked both the West and its modern secrets, have been alternately praised and reviled.

scholarly journals The Once and Future King: Robert F. Kennedy as a Liberal Icon

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-50
Author(s):  
Anne Mørk
Keyword(s):  
American Politics ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Abraham Lincoln ◽  
American People ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
The Media ◽  
Martin Luther King

This article examines Robert F. Kennedy’s status as an icon to the American public and both liberals and conservatives. The difficulty in categorizing Kennedy’s complex political beliefs within just one of many liberal traditions is key to understanding his popularity with various—and often opposing—groups within American politics. Whereas conservatives favor Kennedy’s tough attitude on law-and-order, liberals admire Kennedy’s electoral appeal and ability to unite voters. However, the American people have adopted Kennedy as a non-partisan icon in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and John F. Kennedy. Starting with Kennedy’s death, the American people remembered him as a martyr of American democracy, justice, and equality. In the new millennium, Kennedy has frequently been presented in the media and political rhetoric as tough, but compassionate, and thereby as a liberal icon for the ages.

Changing Patterns of Politicization and Partisanship Among Women in France

1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia B. Bashevkin
Keyword(s):  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Political Involvement ◽  
North American Society ◽  
Social Activists ◽  
The Past ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
American Society ◽  
Feminist Movements

During the past decade, political researchers have devoted growing attention to women's political involvement and, to a somewhat lesser extent, their political attitudes in Western cultures. This interest has been a response in part to contemporary feminist movements and, more specifically, to the increasingly visible role of women as social activists, partisan elites and governmental decision makers in Western European and North American society.

Broadening the Picture of Nineteenth-Century Baptists: How Battles with Catholicism Moved Baptists Toward Separationism

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 453-486
Author(s):  
Marty McMahone
Keyword(s):  
Southern Baptist ◽  
First Amendment ◽  
Church And State ◽  
The United States ◽  
Southern Baptist Convention ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
The Other ◽  
Biblical Authority ◽  
American Experience ◽  
American Society

Discussions about the historical meaning of religious liberty in the United States often generate more heat than light. This has been true in the broad discussion of the meaning of the First Amendment in American life. The debate between “separationists” and “accommodationists” is often contentious and seldom satisfying. Both sides tend to believe that a few choice quotes that seem to disprove the other side's position prove their own. Each side is tempted to miss the more nuanced story that is reflected in the American experience. In recent years, this division has been reflected among those who call themselves Baptists. One group, best represented by the work of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, tends to argue that the Baptist heritage is clearly steeped in the separation of church and state. The other group, probably best represented by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, tends to reject the term separation and sees value in promoting an American society that “affirms and practices Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority.” This group tends to reject the separationist perspective as a way of defending religious liberty. They argue that Baptists have defended religious liberty without moving to the hostility toward religion that they see in separationism. Much like the broad story of America, the Baptist story is considerably more complicated than either side makes it appear.

scholarly journals Внешняя политика США в восприятии и оценках современного американского общества

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-66
Author(s):  
Лариса ГАРУСОВА
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
The Past ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
The Us ◽  
Informational Basis ◽  
American Research ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Relationship

Анализируется взаимосвязь и корреляция современной внешнеполитической стратегии США с общественной рефлексией на неё. Информационной основой работы являются результаты социологических опросов ведущих американских исследовательских центров, статистические данные, статьи, официальные документы. Прослежена связь официальных внешнеполитических доктрин и мнения американских граждан в отношении России и Китая. Выявлена корреляция между усилением антикитайских настроений в США за последние два года и появлением новой официальной стратегии Вашингтона в отношении КНР («Стратегический подход США к КНР») от 20 мая 2020 г. внешняя политика, США, стратегия, рефлексия, общественное мнение, Россия, Китай, национальная безопасность This article analyzes the relationship and correlation of the US modern foreign policy strategy with public reflection on it. Washington's active foreign policy and US claims to the role of world leader are supported by American society in recent decades. The informational basis of this work is the analysis of the sociological surveys of leading American research centers, statistics, academic articles, as well as official documents on the studied issues. The study revealed the peculiarities of the perception of traditional and new threats to national and international security by the American elite and society. The author traces the connection between official foreign policy doctrines and the opinions of American citizens regarding Russia and China. A correlation was found between the strengthening of anti-Chinese sentiment in the US over the past two years and the appearance of a new official strategy of Washington towards the PRC (“United States Strategic Approach to The People’s Republic of China”) in May 20, 2020. foreign policy, USA, strategy, reflection, public opinion, Russia, China, national security

“After Enlightenment, Return to the Marketplace”

2021 ◽  
pp. 33-64
Author(s):  
Karen Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
John Locke ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Private Search ◽  
Broken World

Ever since John Locke argued that religion was essentially a “private search” and must be radically excluded from political life, we have prided ourselves in the West on the separation of church and state. John Esposito, of course, has famously ignored this shibboleth. In the past, students were not content to acquire a purely academic understanding of their faith; their aim was not to earn a doctorate or a professorship. Instead, they expected to be spiritually transformed by their studies—an experience that propelled them out of the classroom and back into the mundane, messy, and tragic world of politics. This essay traces this theme in Indian and Chinese traditions as well as in the three monotheistic faiths. All insist that poverty, inequity, cruelty, and exploitation are matters of sacred import and that after achieving Enlightenment one must, as the Buddha insisted, “return to the marketplace” and work practically and creatively to heal the suffering of humanity—a message that is sorely needed in our tragically broken world.

Since 1945: New Amenities, New Hazards

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
World History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Role ◽  
The Past ◽  
American Society ◽  
Service Employment

If the average citizen's surroundings defined the national climate, then the United States grew markedly warmer and drier in the postwar decades. Migration continued to carry the center of population west and began pulling it southward as well. The growth of what came to be called the Sunbelt at the "Snowbelt's" expense passed a landmark in the early 1960s when California replaced New York as the most populous state. Another landmark was established in the early 1990s when Texas moved ahead of New York. In popular discussion, it was taken for granted that finding a change of climate was one of the motives for relocating as well as one of the results. It was not until 1954, though, that an American social scientist first seriously considered the possibility. The twentieth-century flow of Americans to the West Coast, the geographer Edward L. Ullman observed in that year, had no precedent in world history. It could not be explained by the theories of settlement that had worked well in the past, for a substantial share of it represented something entirely new, "the first large-scale in-migration to be drawn by the lure of a pleasant climate." If it was the first of its kind, it was unlikely to be the last. For a set of changes in American society, Ullman suggested, had transformed the economic role of climate. The key changes included a growth in the numbers of pensioned retirees; an increase in trade and service employment, much more "footloose" than agriculture or manufacturing was; developments in technology making manufacturing itself more footloose; and a great increase in mobility brought about by the automobile and the highway. All in one way or another had weakened the bonds of place and made Americans far freer than before to choose where to live. Whatever qualities made life in any spot particularly pleasant thus attracted migration more than in the past. Ullman grouped such qualities together as "amenities." They ranged from mountains to beaches to cultural attractions, but climate appeared to be the most important, not least because it was key to the enjoyment of many of the rest. Ullman did not suppose that all Americans desired the same climate. For most people, in this as in other respects, "where one was born and lives is the best place in the world, no matter how forsaken a hole it may appear to an outsider."

Greece, Rome, and the Revolutionaries of 1916

2020 ◽  
pp. 43-59
Author(s):  
Brian McGing
Keyword(s):  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Classical Rhetoric ◽  
Gettysburg Address ◽  
Classical Culture ◽  
Political Oratory

This chapter argues for a tension in the writings of Patrick Pearse, with some discussion also of Thomas MacDonagh, between commitment to the Gaelic and Catholic movement, which had eclipsed the classicism of earlier political rhetoric, and a marked interest in classical culture. Following an overview of the reception of classical rhetoric in political oratory before Irish independence, Pearse’s essays and speeches are analysed and shown to be permeated with classical tropes. Pearse’s oration for O’Donovan Rossa is discussed in particular detail, and it is suggested that the affinities with Thucydides in this funeral oration may have been mediated by Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, with which Pearse was familiar.

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